Day #2 in Morocco, Day #11 traveling
(Pictures at the end because there are WAY more than fit artistically into my written words)
The streets of Marrakech are full of vendors shouting various things at us to get us into their shops. My favorite thus far has been offers for a boyfriend and the claim that "Everything is free for you beautiful." I'm fairly certain that the store is NOT free, but I'm curious what would happen if I ever followed through on the offer.
Our first day in Marrakech, we were met by Marcie, one of the tour guides from the company we booked our desert tour through. She showed up to give us some guidelines for Moroccan life...always barter, ask before taking pictures (Islam forbids photos, but not everyone is a strict follower), and watch out for the motorcycles (I almost died a handful of times). Marcie offered to show us around the city, which was wonderful because Marrakech is this crazy maze of clay buildings and pathways.
On our way back to the hostel, we swung back to the spice market to get some magic lipstick. This lipstick is green in the tube, but it reacts with your PH level to turn into a unique color on each person's lips. Maria's color is a light Barbie pink, while Alison's is more magenta, and mine is bright red. The guy who we bought the lipstick from was craaaazy, but super awesome. Most Moroccan people are incredibly friendly, especially when you're interested in their culture. He owned a chameleon and sold turtles, which we took some pictures of.
After this, we went back to the hostel to freshen up for dinner. We took a pit stop on the roof of our hostel to watch the sun set over Marrakech (GASP, we could see the sun!). It was amazing because shortly after the sun sets, the call to prayer starts. Each mosque in Marrakech has its own time because the call to prayer happens at a certain amount of time after the sun sets and obviously if you're further west, the sun sets later. So as the sun set, the city is just filled with rounds of the Muslim call to prayer and it's really pretty.
One of the things in Morocco that surprised me were the mosques. I'm used to seeing mosques in the U.S. that are more dome-shaped, similar to the giant mosques in Istanbul. However, Morocco has never been ruled by a wealthy empire, so their mosques were much simpler. The shape and size of the mosques were much smaller than I expected for a Muslim country. Although quite numerous, they didn't seem to have enough space for the number of people living in each city.
Instead of getting lost looking for another restaurant outside the medina (city wall), we decided to go up to the same restaurant as the night before. When we were done eating, Alison and I went back to the hostel because I needed to figure out all my stuff for the desert and the other two girls stayed for some drinks at the restaurant. It was an early night because we had to wake up at 6 am to meet our guide for the desert tour!
(Pictures at the end because there are WAY more than fit artistically into my written words)
The streets of Marrakech are full of vendors shouting various things at us to get us into their shops. My favorite thus far has been offers for a boyfriend and the claim that "Everything is free for you beautiful." I'm fairly certain that the store is NOT free, but I'm curious what would happen if I ever followed through on the offer.
Our first day in Marrakech, we were met by Marcie, one of the tour guides from the company we booked our desert tour through. She showed up to give us some guidelines for Moroccan life...always barter, ask before taking pictures (Islam forbids photos, but not everyone is a strict follower), and watch out for the motorcycles (I almost died a handful of times). Marcie offered to show us around the city, which was wonderful because Marrakech is this crazy maze of clay buildings and pathways.
We started off at a shoe store...but with my large American feet, I couldn't fit into any of the little Moroccan shoes so it wasn't too exciting. The fun part started with a visit to a pharmacy where we learned about all the different Moroccan spices, herbs, and natural remedies. The first thing we learned about is Moroccan oil, apparently something very popular back home. There are two ways to harvest the oils from the nuts. First, you shell the nut, then roast it, and then grind it into a paste. The second way is to let the goats eat the nuts and then harvest the oil from their poop (GROSS!)
Morocco is well-known for its oil and saffron. Saffron is apparently this magical herb that is incredibly expensive almost everywhere else in the world. I didn't buy any of it though because I don't know what I'd do with it! The pharmacy had all sorts of cool things...herbal "Vicks Vapor Rub", orange blossom headache oils, almond creme for dry skin, and lots of Moroccan spices. I bought three bags of mint green tea from the store because it tasted delicious.
The pharmacy also offered a few different services. One was a quick massage using arnica oil. That was awesome...but even better was the henna I got. My sister Amanda turned me onto henna so this is one thing I really wanted to do in Morocco. I figured I'd have to sit for a while because they do very intricate patterns and usually it takes Amanda a while to finish one. The henna lady finished my entire hand in about two minutes. It was CRAZY!
Morocco is well-known for its oil and saffron. Saffron is apparently this magical herb that is incredibly expensive almost everywhere else in the world. I didn't buy any of it though because I don't know what I'd do with it! The pharmacy had all sorts of cool things...herbal "Vicks Vapor Rub", orange blossom headache oils, almond creme for dry skin, and lots of Moroccan spices. I bought three bags of mint green tea from the store because it tasted delicious.
The pharmacy also offered a few different services. One was a quick massage using arnica oil. That was awesome...but even better was the henna I got. My sister Amanda turned me onto henna so this is one thing I really wanted to do in Morocco. I figured I'd have to sit for a while because they do very intricate patterns and usually it takes Amanda a while to finish one. The henna lady finished my entire hand in about two minutes. It was CRAZY!
After the pharmacy, we headed to a giant store of Moroccan stuff...jewelry, bags, tea sets. The tea sets really got me...they're gorgeous. So, I walked out of the store with my first tea set...a beautiful tin and silver Moroccan tea set. Part of the fun of the markets is haggling, I definitely got better at it as the vacation wore on. This first store though, the prize goes to my friend Laura who haggled her own price so low, the owner just knocked my price down too.
When we left the shop, Marcie (tour guide) shouted "Harry Potter!" and ran up to this Moroccan guy and started chatting with him. Habib (his real name) invited us into his friend's shop for some tea. Marcie said this is what her life is like since she doesn't have an office. She gets to hang out in cafes and work, which also means she can wander around some during the day and just hang out with her friends. I can't say enough times how delicious Moroccan tea is.
On our way back to the hostel, we swung back to the spice market to get some magic lipstick. This lipstick is green in the tube, but it reacts with your PH level to turn into a unique color on each person's lips. Maria's color is a light Barbie pink, while Alison's is more magenta, and mine is bright red. The guy who we bought the lipstick from was craaaazy, but super awesome. Most Moroccan people are incredibly friendly, especially when you're interested in their culture. He owned a chameleon and sold turtles, which we took some pictures of.
After this, we went back to the hostel to freshen up for dinner. We took a pit stop on the roof of our hostel to watch the sun set over Marrakech (GASP, we could see the sun!). It was amazing because shortly after the sun sets, the call to prayer starts. Each mosque in Marrakech has its own time because the call to prayer happens at a certain amount of time after the sun sets and obviously if you're further west, the sun sets later. So as the sun set, the city is just filled with rounds of the Muslim call to prayer and it's really pretty.
One of the things in Morocco that surprised me were the mosques. I'm used to seeing mosques in the U.S. that are more dome-shaped, similar to the giant mosques in Istanbul. However, Morocco has never been ruled by a wealthy empire, so their mosques were much simpler. The shape and size of the mosques were much smaller than I expected for a Muslim country. Although quite numerous, they didn't seem to have enough space for the number of people living in each city.
Instead of getting lost looking for another restaurant outside the medina (city wall), we decided to go up to the same restaurant as the night before. When we were done eating, Alison and I went back to the hostel because I needed to figure out all my stuff for the desert and the other two girls stayed for some drinks at the restaurant. It was an early night because we had to wake up at 6 am to meet our guide for the desert tour!
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| Overlooking the spice market |
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| Moroccan spices and herbs |
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| My two minute henna! |
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| Similar to the tea set I purchased |
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| One of the mosques in Marrakech |
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| Sun setting over Marrakech |
I'm uber jealous, if for no other reason than Indiana Jones was there!
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